Vigilant (The Hudson Saga Book 1) by Will Bowron

Author:Will Bowron [Bowron, Will]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2022-06-06T16:00:00+00:00

PART TWO

THE PERMANENCE

OF THINGS EARNED

CHAPTER TWENTY

Taylor

Something woke Taylor before his alarm sounded. He kept still and listened to the early morning noises as his mind cleared, searching for what had jarred him from his sleep.

No dogs barked. Birds had all flown elsewhere by this time of year. The only intrusion was the occasional rumble of a car driving by or a dumpster being emptied. Everything natural had hibernated. Hamington belonged to the humans now.

He stood and stretched before the cold could convince him to close his eyes and pull the comforter back over his body. He dropped to the floor and panted out short breaths as he counted push-ups. Muscle soreness was constant since the beginning of his new workout regiment, but now his joints only creaked when he first woke. Once he was warm, everything seemed to work better. No aching lower back or wrist soreness from computer work. Just an ease to things. After the pushups, Taylor moved on to other movements. Quick squats, crunches, and yoga-inspired twists to limber up, the fog of sleep dissipating with every rep.

He dried the sweat off his face with a towel when he finished then tossed it on the bed to use again after his second and third workouts of the day. The usual pang of regret hit as he remembered how heavy and tired he used to feel after any kind of physical activity. His heartrate had already returned to a resting pace and his muscles felt refreshed. It had taken a gun in his face to motivate him to become healthier and stronger. He’d wasted too much of his time at restaurants eating foods that acted as teasers for his taste buds instead of fuel for his body. If he’d been stronger, maybe he could have fought off that mugger.

Taylor rubbed his hand against his head in frustration. The short hair still felt unfamiliar under his fingers.

After weeks of salves and medical ointments to speed up his recovery time, the stitches from the attack had dissolved, his wound healed, and the hair over the injury had started growing. He took clippers to his scalp a week ago to even it all out to a short length. He tilted his head, examining himself in the mirror at angles.

It made him look different. In the past, his hair had always been longer. Product was necessary to keep it from exploding in all directions and dropping down over his eyes. Alice had said the semi-slicked back look was professional on camera.

The new cut made his face seem thinner, more utilitarian. Almost military. Taylor didn’t mind, but apparently Jake thought the audience would. When Taylor returned for his first broadcast after the injury, Jake pressured him out of the studio and into his office to talk. Taylor tried to wave him away as he reviewed the night’s opening lines on the teleprompter.

“No, don’t worry about that,” Jake said. “Brad can sit in for you again. Let’s chat.” Brad smiled prettily at Taylor over Jake’s shoulder as he settled into the anchor chair.

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